Lake Louise

Banff Spring Hotel

City of Calgary

The Chinook Cloud Formation

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Ken and I met 31 years ago here in Calgary. It is where we call home even though Ken was born in Kelowna, BC and I was born in Kingston, Ontario.

Calgary has been a great place to raise our children.

Ken himself has lived in Calgary since 1977.

Calgary is the largest City in the Province of Alberta situated in the south in the Foothills of the Canadian Rockies and the prairies.

When we first moved here the population was a mere 450,000 now it is approximately 1,500,000. Needless to say we have seen many changes.

Calgary's primary industry is the petroleum industry. Many national oil companies have their head offices here and there are many secondary oil related companies as well. Oil was first discovered in the area in 1902 creating the first boom. The 1970's created the second boom with the Arab Embargo. In fact Calgary is so tied to the oil industry that it booms when the oil prices rise. The economy slows down when the oil takes a down turn.

We have a saying in Calgary about the weather "If you don't like it wait 5 minutes". Due to the close vicinity to the mountains we have our own weather patterns that make any weather forecaster cringe. Summers average around 20-22C and cool at night,making airconditioners not necessary. Our winters can be mild OR a major endurance test. One day may find temperatures in the morning of -40C (NOT A TYPO,minus) only to have the temperature rise later in the day to +10C. Its called a Chinook and all Calgarians welcome the sight of Chinook clouds. Unfortunately we can also have the minus temps for weeks at a time without a Chinook. These cold spells could be the reason we are enjoying our trip! Calgary is one of the most sunniest cities with 2400 hrs of sunshine a year. Its hard sometimes to except that its really cold out when the sun is shining so brightly.

1988 was a year to remember in Calgary. The Calgary Winter Olympics. We were the first Canadian City to host the games. We were also the first Olympics to post a profit on the games with the expertise of Frank King. This particular winter was a mild winter and snow had to be trucked into many of the venues.

Calgary is a destination for its world class ski hills. A visit to Banff and Lake Louise leaves an impression with all that see them.

Calgary is known for its "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" The Calgary Stampede. The Stampede traces it roots to 1886. It sees over a million people a year pass through its gates to observe the rodeo, chuckwagons and exhibition. Many of us Calgarians leave town when the show comes to town, but for the kids, tourists and habitual stampede goers it is a 10 day party.

Calgary is a great place to live and visit and I would highly recommend a visit. As we tour our own city this summer I will publish more pictures of many attractions.

Sorry this is a week late getting posted as we went out of town with no internet.

Arial view of Nelson BC

Kootneys British Columbia

Kaslo City Hall built in 1892 and still used. Made of wood from surrounding trees.

Hailies Cache Find

Leandra's Cache Find

Mountain Meadow

Babbling Brook

Kootney Lake

Creston Mountain

This week we left Calgary and went on a road trip to Kaslo. Kaslo has been called the quaint Canadian village similar to those found in Switzerland. Elegant Victorian homes, tree lined streets, mountain views and of course the beautiful glacier fed lake. This quaint little hamlet is nestled in between the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains. Its history is steep with mining lore. Silver ore created the boom that created the town. Later the thick forest sustained the town with the creation of the mill. Surrounded by wilderness and parks this area is finding a new found industry in the eco-tourism. Bears and Cougars abound. So BEWARE! We took to our new pastime and participated in 2 geocaches. A hike with a treasure at the end. The kids were thrilled. (Lea and I had fun also)

We ventured into Nelson to do a little bit of shopping. Nelson is known as the Queen City. It is situated on the extreme right arm of Lake Kootney. Silver and Gold were found in the area creating a boom in 1867. The town built its own hydroelectric generating system in 1895.

During the Vietnam war the draft dodgers made their way to Nelson and changed the dynamics tremendously with a more Liberal outlook and created major changes, culturally and politically. Today a resurgence of servicemen deserting the army to avoid Iraq have made their way to Nelson. Dredlocs are ramptant. Nelson is also well known for its alternative life-style. Hemp and its products are sold in many stores. The RCMP gave up in the 60's. Hence the term BC Bud or Kootney Gold. I am told very good quality.This was all part of the Liberal ways; with this came many wonderfully talented individuals with their artistic creations. One can find many beautiful pieces of art.

There is just so much to do in this area with so little time. A whole summer could be spent exploring and you would barely scratch the surface of things to learn about our past. We as Canadians need to read more about the past that have created our Cities and ghost towns and let our imaginations take us back to that era.

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

Lunnenburg, Nova Scotia

British Columbia

Canada

Canada


We have been traveling through many Spanish speaking countries as you have read. There are extreme differences from Canada but many similarities.

On Thursday Canada celebrated its 143 birthday.

We have many people that read the blog that are from many different places and would like to learn about the place that Ken and I come from, the land we jokingly consider cold.

Canada is far from cold all year round. We have 4 seasons instead of 2. Our summer affords us many long hours of sunshine. Here in Calgary at this time we receive 18 1/2 hrs of sunshine.

The average summer temperature here in Calgary ranges around 22 - 25C, but because we are so close to the Rocky Mountains our nights cool off allowing for a pleasant nights sleep.

Canada is split into four very different regions that are quite different within themselves. We have Western Canada(where we are from) consisting of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan; Central Canada consisting of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec; Eastern Canada (Mari times) consisting of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland then we have our Northern Canada consisting of Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

Canada is the second largest country in the world. The land mass is approximately 9,985,000km2.

While we have been traveling throughout Central America and South America we have noticed that the people in these countries have been misled about our languages. The majority falsely believe that Canada is mostly French. The underlying reason for this is the majority of tourist that have visit have been from Quebec. We are trying to reverse this incorrect piece of information with the truth. The truth is according to the 2006 census, English as a first language is spoken in 67% of homes, French 21% and the balance being many different languages around the world. It was quite alarming to have people surprised that we don't speak French coming from Canada. Enough said.

Our politics function within the constitutional monarchy, federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Like all countries it is not perfect but generally speaking it works.

We are a country with large natural resources. Canada's oil reserves are second only to Saudi Arabia. We have minerals and metals. We are now a diamond producing nation and are the largest producer of uranium. Canada is also one of the largest gold producing countries and is the largest manufacturer of the world for gold coins and the Maple leaf bullion sets sold world wide.

The Canadian Mint produces many coins used in various countries.

Canada has a large lumber export in both softwoods and hardwoods. The Americans have been our main buyer but we are looking elsewhere for sales as there has been a long dispute with the American government over sales and a tariff has been placed on our lumber. So much for free trade.

The car industry also contributes to our export trades both in vehicles and vehicle parts. Lets hope the car companies can keep the momentum up and running. We cannot afford bailouts.

Now what really is Canada?

Its people.

We are a nation known as tranquil, compassionate and helping. We are respected on the World's stage.

It's Land?

We are surrounded by 3 oceans. The Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific. We have 8 very large mountain ranges, share 4 of the 5 Great Lakes and have more lakes and rivers than we could possibly count.

The Maritimes

The Maritime provinces are our Atlantic provinces. They consists of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland.

I have only been to the Maritimes twice in my life, both in the summer. It is a wonderful part of our country. The people that live in this region find their ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, England and French(be it Canadian or France). The French here are known as Acadian. The industries here are fishing, agriculture, coal mining. The people are the friendliest in Canada and the saying you are always welcome could not be more truer than here. I have inserted some pictures that I got off the Internet.
Ken and I possibly plan on going through the maritimes on Genesis. That would occur possible August/2011. Stay tune for that.

I will be departing tomorrow for a road trip to the Kootney's in British Columbia for a week. I will have pictures to share of beautiful British Columbia.